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Issue No. 7 Spring/Summer 2019 BPIA BULLETIN The Newsletter of the Association of Black Professionals in International Affairs About the Association What’s Inside BPIA is a charitable, non- Spring and summer brought a number of noteworthy activities profit membership association for BPIA and friends. On page 2, you can read about our most founded in 1989 to increase the recent “Think and Drink” event, held June 27. It focused on the involvement of Afican implications of cybersecurity and data privacy issues for the black Americans and other people of community “and beyond.” “The Future of Work” was the topic of Afican heritage in a BPIA professional development workshop on March 30. See international afairs. page 3 for details. BPIA members and leaders actively supported Founder, Barbara C. Patterson activities of other organizations relating to black engagement in President, Sylvia Stanfield, US international affairs during this period. Our friends in the Ambassador (ret.) Thursday Luncheon Group celebrated the organization’s 45th Vice President, Business and anniversary at the State Department on June 24. Read their story Economic Envelopment, J. Calvin on page 4. A conversation with Sally Schwartz, a longtime Wiliams proponent of internationalizing the education of DC public Vice President, Education and school students, starts on page 5. We note the passing of Dr. Exchange, John-Ubong Silas Niara Sudarkasa, an early friend of BPIA and former president of Vice President, Professional Lincoln University, on page 2 . Did you miss an opportunity to Development, Earl Yates engage in international service in your youth? It’s not too late. Secretary, Ayla-Rebeka Brooks Learn about one woman’s recent volunteer service experience on Treasurer, Cory Bulock page 5. Meet two new BPIA Board members on pages 5 and 7. Check out important international fellowship opportunities and Historian, Cynthia Johnson deadlines on page 3, and the Calendar on the inside back cover. Board Members-at-Large BPIA Buletin is a quarterly publication. Persons interested in Lassine Cherif contributing/subscribing to the newsletter should email the Editor, Sandile Hlatshwayo, Ph.D. Dr. Michele Cisco Titi, at [email protected] C. Steven McGann, US Ambassador (ret.) Yvonne Hubbard Jeanne M. Toungara, Ph.D. !1 Issue No. 7 Spring/Summer 2019 “Cheers!” for June Think and Drink Participants were nourished in body and mind at BPIA’s second Think and Drink forum, held June 27 at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. The event featured a buffet dinner, bar, networking opportunities, and an excellent panel of experts on the evening’s topic, “Data Privacy and Cybersecurity: Implications for Our Community and Beyond.” The panelists were (l-r, at right): Selina Musata, a Ford-Mozilla Fellow supporting the privacy and security work at Consumer Reports; Bishop Garrison, Director of National Security Outreach, Human Rights First and former Advisor, Science and Technology Directorate at DHS during the Obama administration; and Michaela Barnett, Senior Analyst, Accenture Federal Services, and CEO, Blacks in Cybersecurity, LLC. John Calvin Williams, BPIA’s Vice President for Business and Economic Development, served as moderator. The panelists shared thoughtful insights with their audience. Garrison, for example, saw potential problems with police having access to biometric data, e.g., facial recognition and DNA data, that might be used “in ways for which it was not intended.” Moderator “Cal” Williams noted the fallibility of such software. He shared an experience with facial recognition software that couldn’t recognize him when he was returning home tired from a trip. Musata cited the lack of legal personal data protection in the US as compared with Europe. “Europe is so much further down the tech line, she observed.” For her part, Barnett advised audience members to “Educate yourself about cybersecurity… Ask ‘how can I secure,’ ” for example, “ ‘medical devices?’ ” Participants engaged each other and the experts upon the conclusion of the discussion. Farewell to a BPIA Friend On May 31, Dr. Niara Sudarkasa passed into the ranks of the ancestors. She was 80 years old. A Florida native, she became a brilliant Africanist and cultural anthropologist, and a superstar in higher education. In the 1960s, she taught on the faculties of Columbia University, New York University, and the University of Michigan. She became the first female president of Lincoln University, the oldest historically black university in the US in 1986. (See obituary, https://record.umich.edu/articles/obituary-niara-sudarkasa .) At Lincoln, Sudarkasa focused on internationalizing the curriculum. Under her leadership, the university became a valuable institutional partner to BPIA. She served as a keynoter at the organization’s October 1995 Biennial Conference, and received an International Service award for her leadership in international higher education. In 1996, several BPIA members participated in a forward-looking forum at Lincoln on “Internationalizing the HBCUs. ” We honor her memory, and express our deep condolences to her family. !2 Issue No. 7 Spring/Summer 2019 Mentoring Workshop on the Future of Work by Dr. Sandile Hlatshwayo On March 29, BPIA hosted a Professional Development & Mentoring Workshop on The Future of Work in International Affairs. The discussion was moderated by new BPIA Board Member Yvonne Hubbard (far right on panel, at right), a seasoned recruiter in international affairs, and featured Dr. Marcus Casey (center, on panel), a professor at University of Illinois - Chicago and a Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Chuka Asike (left, on panel), a US diplomat. Panelists noted the great degree of uncertainty around how ongoing technological advances will translate into potential job losses, with estimates ranging from 5 to 40 percent of jobs being lost, and some studies claiming that there might be a positive net effect on jobs. They also mentioned high variation across different fields. Workers in sectors with a high degree of routinization are most vulnerable —for example, where there are predictable physical labor inputs, data processing, or information collection needs, as in manufacturing, food service, and retailing. Sectors requiring interpersonal communications skills and judgment-based decision-making are likely to survive. For international affairs professionals, that’s good news. Many of the roles we play will continue to require a high degree of human involvement. The panelists noted that, while some aspects of our work may soon be delegated to machines, this will allow us to place more focus on more complicated, non-routine tasks. When asked what skill sets are necessary to prepare for the future, the panelists emphasized that international affairs professionals will increasingly need a more dynamic, people-oriented, quantitatively rigorous skill sets. Part and parcel of that dynamism will be ensuring one’s education includes both a diverse range of knowledge (e.g., both the humanities and STEM fields) as well as expertise in a given area. This strategy will help make one’s career more resilient in the face of an uncertain future. The next Mentoring Workshop wil be held in fal 2019 and a new round of mentors wil be matched with mentees. Interested persons should email BPIA Board Member Sandile Hlatshwayo at [email protected]. It’s Open Season for Graduate Fellowships — Apply Now! Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Afairs Fellowship, Deadline: September 7, 2019 - https:// pickeringfellowship.org/graduate-fellowship/how-to-apply *** Charles B. Rangel Graduate Fellowship, Deadline: September 24, 2019 - www.rangelprogram.org/graduate-fellowship- program/ *** Donald M. Payne International Development Fellowship, Deadline: November 1, 2019 - https://www.paynefellows.org !3 Issue No. 7 Spring/Summer 2019 TLG Marks 45th Anniversary In 1973, William Davis and Roburt Dumas, two former senior officers of the US Information Agency, founded the Thursday Luncheon Group. Its aim was to increase participation of African-Americans and other people of color “in the formulation, articulation and implementation of US foreign policy.” They met on the first Thursday of every month. The group’s year-long 45th anniversary celebration culminated on June 24 at a formal luncheon in the State Department’s venerable Benjamin Franklin Room. A veritable Who’s Who of African Americans in diplomacy was in attendance. (See the event video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS8GxyYmpag .) Retired Ambassador Harry K. ThomasJr. was the luncheon keynote speaker. In his remarks, he described TLG members “wealthy,” for having been “given the gift of being diplomats.” He called them wealthy “despite the wall of racism, sexism, and homophobia” built in front of them. Told, for example, that they “lack drafting skills and could not learn hard languages,” Thomas said, “TLG members kept scaling the wall.” He observed that they are helping a new generation of diplomats do the same today. TLG gives its highest honor, the Pioneer Award, to “individuals of distinction” in the field of international affairs. Harry Thomas received this year’s award for his 34-year career, including as Ambassador to Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Zimbabwe; State Department Executive Secretary; and Director General of the Foreign Service. Former TLG President Fannie Allen’s award recognized her 39 years of public service with the US Army (she is a retired Lt. Colonel), USIA and the State Department. Dr. E. Thomas Rowe,